Castles

I was half watching the football tonight but made this tag  with some Paperartsy castle stamps, which I've had for some time but don't seem to have used before - they were too clean!  I made a mask to allow me to stamp the towers in the background.  I added some Ferro (iron)  for texture in the foreground - but also to cover a splodge of ink that got in the wrong place.... The key is stamped on copper metal and just cut out (badly in places) but having managed it added it for a bit of extra "interest". The inks are shabby shutters and peeled paint, with a little old paper.

I may go back and add some copper to the roof parts, later!

Meow!

I haven't gone back to yesterday's piece yet - but I'm happier with this one!  the Paperartsy cat is stamped on pearl metal, embossed and mounted on a piece of card, sprayed with solar gold glimmer mist.  The chip is coloured with faded jeans, shabby shutters and mustard seed, the swirl is a Paperartsy mini and the phrase, a new one of Tim's I got on Saturday!  The chip was sprayed with marshmallow glimmer mist.

Kind of a funny day

I have had a strange day craft-wise.  I was so keen to put some of the ideas I'd seen yesterday into effect but kept losing my way - nothing seemed to work!  I spent a while mounting up my new Nut and Meg and Clocks stamps onto EZ mount (I hate this, as I always think I'm going to cut into the stamp by mistake; and when I buy them mail order always go for the ready EZ'd ones!) but that went ok this time. I had to move them into a bigger box though..... lol!

It was when I started trying out some of the new things, that it started to go - not wrong, really, just now how I wanted!  I love what Leandra was doing with the circle chip pieces but my first effort was a bit of a mess, the second is going a bit better, but I have abandoned it for the day - it is very much a work in progress - you should see the other side! Sometimes I think you just have to know when to stop, take a break and go back to it later.

I have started to decorated the wooden pot I got to store my TSS wheels and bits in, obviously I can't show what I've done as it won't go in the scanner....  am using a mixutre of Claudine Helmuth paints, and some Craftwork Cards "lots of dots" paper.
Maybe it will be better tomorrow, just a shame I have to go to work!

Got Archie!

Hooray!  I got an Archie - he hasn't scanned very well, sorry - but isn't he fab?  I have dug out a digital camera and am trying to remember how to use it (and charge the battery) so I can try and take some better pics, but this is for now!  We were wearing them as necklaces for a while, but I took him off to keep safe.

My sister in law Lynne, her daughter Rachael and I, have spent an exhausting but enjoyable day at Ally Pally.  Our preparations were put out a bit by my poor brother falling at work yesterday and fracturing his left kneecap, so is hobbling around on crutches, but said that he'd be ok whilst Lynne and Rachael came with me as planned!  Thanks Richard.

Anyhow, we got there just before doors opened at 10, and I made a dash for LB Crafts for their Archie (and B-Line) special offer - and I wasn't alone - I met my follower Kay at the till having managed to grab £25 worth of Paperartsy stamps to qualify for Archie - they were going fast.  I just want to say thanks to Lin and Leandra for the offer and Leandra for the hard work, they are gorgeous!!  it was good to meet Kay, isn't it strange how in blog-land you feel you know your fellow bloggers without even meeting them!

After the panic of making sure I got Archie, I could relax and enjoy things - Lin and Leandra were demo-ing some brilliant ideas and I could have stayed and watched all day - in fact I went back about 4 times.... some people HAD been there all day.

If I can get the camera working I will try and take a shot of everything I got - there is a LOT.

I also met Hels on the Stamp Connections stand and later went to her demo - again it was fab to meet such an inspiring lady. I am sure you will not be surprised to hear, that she demoed with Distress Inks and some Wendy Vecchi stuff!!  but also the new range of Mabel Lucie Attwell stamps (I collected my win from Jennie's blog!)

I bought a lovely hexagonal wooden pot which I shall decorate and use to stand my TSS tools in - eventually!  Can't remember for the life of me which stand I got that from, it's all a bit of a blur now....

As well as securing Archie, Lin also (as usual, and generously) was giving out samples that she'd made and I got a gorgeous chipboard piece decorated with TSS'd copper, terra, ferro, UTEE, it looks fab.

To round off such a fantastic day, I got home to find that my beloved Liverpool (sorry, football chat now!) had crushed their opponents of the day, Hull, 6-1 so it couldn't have gone much better - apart from a clean sheet, I suppose but maybe that's just gready.

Anyhow, I'll be back when I've had a few more cups of tea and watched Strictly and a rest!! See you soon.
EDIT - I got the camera working, took some photos and then couldn't upload them as the software has been uninstalled and I can't reinstall it - typical!!  I have taken a couple of shots of the "stash" on my 35mm camera but don't know when I will finish the film to get it developed!!

Wow!! I won something

Oh my!!  I never win anything (maybe my lottery numbers will come up tomorrow.... would be useful with the length of my "wish list" for the Pally tomorrow!) but I just saw I was first to guess right at a new stamp sneak peak on Jennie's blog yesterday and won the stamp!  Thank's Jennie. 

Daisy

Daisy features as the Hobby Art logo -  I used her on this arch, trying to recreate an idea from Lin and Leandra using one of the new Paperartsy minis which I don't have (yet!) in one of my early "get to grips with metal" sessions recently.  Hobby Art were my local (and much missed) stamp store when they had the shop here in Sutton and where I fed my early days of stamping addiction!  The arch is covered with Ferro in Golden Orange and Golden Green.  I am not really sure about the "finished" piece, I may take it off blog!  Maybe I'll play some more with it after the weekend.

Another tag!

Still in my orange mood!  I coloured this one at the same time as the tag for the Books and Pages challenge, the stamps are B-Line Designs (the postcards) and Wendy Vecchi (everything else), the butterfly is stamped on grungepaper and was originally going to be purple (dusty concord) but I oversprayed it with various glimmer mists.  The crown is a grunge element, covered with spiced marmalade distress ink, sanded down and the swirls are picked out with some glitter glue, and the number 5 is cut out from a cuttlebugged piece of metal left over from an earlier piece. It hasn't scanned very well, I must think about getting a digital camera.

Missing your followers?

There seems to be a problem on blogspot with missing followers - I found this link to a help forum where they're trying to fix it.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGJVcXNJd1JfZ2FOeU50aDNhTDBRY0E6MA

Ferro wheel

The other day I was thinking about how I could add some more texture to the Viva Ferro product.  I tried stamping in it but didn't get the desired effect.  Then I had an idea to use one of my TSS wheels.  I added some Ferro (blackberry) to a chipboard piece I had previously coated in black acrylic paint.  Leandra (Paperartsy) recommends wetting the stamp - or wheel in my case - to prevent too much sticking - using a babywipe.  I then rolled the wheel through the ferro and got some quite deep marks - a bit like a tractor track. it did take some cleaning - on the baby wipe - but it did come clean after a bit of rubbing.  After the Ferro dried, I stamped the Snowman (Paperartsy) on a piece of card and coloured him with gel pens.  I put a piece of metal through my cuttlebug with the numbers folder, and sprayed it with glimmer mist in Jazz Blue and Snap Dragon, and decorated the edge with another TSS wheel.  I stuck the Snowman and metal to the chipboard piece with humungo tape.

The start of autumn - Kew Gardens

I went to Kew Gardens yesterday morning.  I try to go as often as I can (I have a season ticket so it only costs my train fare) as I really enjoy walking around the gardens.  Ever since I watched a BBC programme a few years ago, "A Year at Kew" I have tried to do the same taking photos along the way.  The trees yesterday were just starting to turn, so in a couple of weeks it will probably be wonderful - last year I timed it just right and got some great photos.  Here are a couple I took yesterday.  I am obsessed by the way the light catches the water on this fountain in the lake outside the Palm House, even yesterday when it was quite dull, it just sparkles!

Sunday Stamper - Week 71 - Books or Pages Challenge

The Sunday Stamper challenge this week, is Books or Pages, and this is my go!  I coloured the tag with old paper and brushed corduroy distress inks, sprayed it with peach delight and walnut gold glimmer mists and let dry.  I then overstamped in black archival ink, with a Studio 490 background.  The "art" scrap is a Hero stamp, in archival black ink on a piece of paper which I aged with walnut stain distress ink, on my craft sheet spritzed with water and then dragged the stamped piece of paper over it to cover.  I dried it and sprayed it with a pigment pearl mix from a mini mister (tea dye and gold pigment pearl) I stamped the Studio 490 flowers on grungepaper that I had sponged with spiced marmalade distress and sunset orange (adirondack pigment) and cut them out. I punched a hole in the small flowers and used a brad to form the centres.  I finished it off with a small piece of brown stitched ribbon.

Baby Congratulations

I was asked to make this baby congratulations card for some clients at work, who have just had their first baby - a girl, in case the colour doesn't give it away!  I have had the pram stamp for years, don't think I've used it more than once before.  I stamped it on that scrummy TSS pink metal and refined/embossed it (I think I'm getting the hang of it a bit now!) and stamped the balloons (Paperbag Studios) using fired brick distress, added glitter to te balloons, although it doesn't show up so well on screen, and the 'congratulations' to the card.  Made a tape sandwich for the pram and added it to the card.

To my follower Kay

Kay,
Thanks for being my first follower outside the family!  (Thanks to Lynne - my sister-in-law, too!)  I tried to leave a comment on your blog (which is great), Kay but the word verification box isn't working properly - so will have to do it here.Thank you, it means a lot.

Ticket - SS Challenge

I have had these blank tickets for ages not knowing what to do with them, so when I saw the Sunday Stampers Challenge, "Ticket" based on the Fab Four's Ticket to Ride, I had an idea.... I downloaded a map which I aged with some distress ink and stamped the two images (the travelling lady is from B Line designs, the suitcase is Judikins) and there you go... a Ticket to "Ryde"..  lol.

It's come out a bit more basic than I like, but the main idea was to be tongue in cheek.

Snowman tag

For some reason I made this snowman into the "tape sandwich" before I refined it/embossed it with the teflon tools, which I had intended to do, but thought I'd use it anyway. (I told you I was a novice!) The tag is watercoloured Tim-style, with worn lipstick and dusty concord and the trees/words are Wendy Vecchi'sStudio 490. I painted the trees with pine needles distress ink and a wet paintbrush.

Copper Castle

Although I have been loving the metal work that both Lin (LB Crafts) and Leandra (Paper Artsy) do, and have bought loads of bits and bobs, I haven't really used it much - but I have made this tag - the tag was inked with distress inks (scattered straw, mustard seed and spiced marmalade), with a dash of the damson plum ink pad I got yesterday (Nick Bantock), just round th edges.  I stamped the castle (from Crowns and Castles 4) in black stazon on a piece of copper, the flourish is from the same set, and fairytale from Crowns and Castles 1 by Paper Artsy.

Inspired by Linda

This is my version of a tag that Linda demo'd today and kindly gave me - her version was embellished with a metal decoration she'd stamped but I really can't get out my metal stuff tonight!  The inks are scattered straw (distress) and damson plum (Nick Bantock) which Linda says is her latest fave!  I had to get one - it was the last one on the shelf in that colour and looked lonely (my excuse) and then sprayed with glimmer mist, before overstamping with various stamps ( the lady is a B line design), the post mark is one of Tim's from Stampers Anonymous and the small script, Just for Fun. I may add some metalwork to it tomorrow.  Thanks Lin for the ideas!  I wish I'd been able to make the workshop, I hear it was great fun.

Exhausting but enjoyable

In the end I did manage to do both the Craft Barn AND Worthing!!  but it was very tiring.  Spent far too much money but had a great time.  Looking forward to playing with all the new goodies.  Not a single new stamp among the loot, though which is VERY unusual for me.  Sure I will make up for that in a fortnight at Ally Pally. It was lovely to catch up with friends at both Lingfield and Worthing - see you all again soon!

Buttons

I have seen many art pieces embellished with buttons and whilst at the Newbury show in July I found some huge bags of buttons so reasonably priced I had to get some - well it saves cutting them off my clothes! My only problem was deciding which colour combinations to go for.

This is a chipboard piece I decorated with Viva Prescious Metal (pistacio, blackberry and lilac) and stamped various images (splatter by Judikins, the hearts are Paperbag Studios). I used a piece of grungeboard for the flower (Magenta), painted with Viva (blackberry) and added a paper Prima Flower and a couple of buttons.  I particularly like the pale lilac heart shaped one on the stamped heart image, up close it has a really cool sort of speckly pattern.  The layer of crackle (Viva Croco) isn't really thick enough, but it was the first time I'd used it.

Where is Dr Who when you need him?

There is never a Time Lord around with his Tardis when you need one - this weekend I want to go to The Craft Barn for their Extravaganza, the South Stamp Show in Worthing to see my friends Helen who organises it, and Jenny of Hobby Art; and of course Linda and if we're jetting backwards and forwards in time, then I may as well add in the Papercrafts Extravaganza in Harrogate as well!  I am going to the Craft Barn as I am meeting some friends there - and you should see the length of my shopping list - even before I see what all the demonstrators convince me I "must" have....  I know this event is a two day one, but British Rail are replacing the train I need to catch, by buses, on Sunday.... no thank you!

In the meantime I am thinking of some ideas for the Bling challenge on Gingersnapcreations (thanks, Hels for signmposting this) which sounds great fun, so there is glitter everywhere....

See you soon.

Challenge - "Life"

This is the first time I have taken part in a challenge!  I used distress inks, mustard seed and peeled paint, stamped images from a Studio 490plate and a Stampscapes branch, Personal Impressions fairy.  I added some colour with metallic gel pens and a grungepaper flower (Studio 490 stamp) which I painted with dusty concord distress ink. The text is Penny Black. I finished it by adding green and yellow ribbons. The Sunday Stampers challenge is open till this Sunday and can be found here

Snowman Piece

This is a piece I made when I was at my Mum's recently - with limited supplies!  If I had had any with me, I would have tried to stamp the snowman on metal (I love what Lin and Leandra do with these Paperartsy stamps and metal, but I had to make do with paper.  The chipboard base is painted with Viva Precious Metal paint which is FAB. and a piece of background paper from the sheet I made (see previous post). The chipboard was overstamped with Judikins "splatter background" stamp that I bought when I went to Newbury in July. (love that show!).
I am going to watch the cricket now, so will shut up!!

Some more tags

This is a tag I have distressed and sprayed with glimmer mist (can't remember which one now) then used one of Tim's masks and some Studio 490 stamps (the butterfly was stamped on grungepaper and coloured with gel pens).

This tag was made by sponging distress inks (dusty concord, mustard seed and fired brick) over a tag, misting with water to blend/run the colours and then I sprayed with a mister (holding a mix of worn lipstick re-inker and a scoop of pearl perfect pearl, and water -another Tim idea!) When that was dry, I overstamped with the text stamp (Studio 490, Wendy Vecchi) and the leaf.flower stamps (also Studio 490).  The decoration was made from a background paper I had already made by Tim's wrinkle free distressing method, which was overstamped with the same text stamp as on the main tag.  I used a bit of dusty concord ink to co-ordinate with the tag, cut out and mounted it to the tag.

What I'm working on today

I had this basic tag that I'd coloured - scattered straw, frayed burlap - and had stamped the tree (paperbag studios) but couldn't decide what else it needed. I added the alphabet (Studio 490 again - I told you they were my current faves!) and one of Tim's mini masks in the top right. This then got partly obliterated after I sprayed the tag with a mini mister filled with a pigments and pearls mix, and have now added some Prima flowers (you can get them in lots of places but also here (my sister-in-law!!)  I think it may need something else but not sure what, I don't want to ruin it so will leave it for now and see what comes to mind some other time!

Tags

Here are a couple of tags I made whilst I was away at my Mum's recently - I had to take a limited amount of supplies as I don't have a car and could only take what I could carry! I took some of my new favourite stamps from Wendy Vecchi and the legend that is Tim Holtz, that I get from The Stamp Attic, and a B-Line designs set I bought from Lin at LB Crafts using the Craft Stamper offer in the September issue.

I used distress inks which I adore and the butterfly is painted with copper paint from a dabber.

I still can't tie bows even after all these years!!

Some cards I've made

Here are a couple of cards I've made - just to see if this works! I don't have a digital camera so they are scanned images I saved.

Starting Out

Hi!

This is my first attempt at blogging! Everyone tells me it is so easy (I am going to name names - Wendy, it's your fault!). Let's see...

I love stamping - I was introduced to it by my sister, probably more than 15 years ago, and have built up a huge collection of stamps and accessories, on the understanding that you can never have too much! Sadly my sister is no longer with us, but I owe her so much for this wonderful hobby.

I like to make cards mainly, and love to use tags - I am inspired by so many talented stampers and crafters and I have listed some of them here.

So far, so good. All I need to do now is work out how to load some of my artwork for you to see! I'll be back later.